Campusano's big night at plate can't carry Padres to a win

DENVER -- The expectations at Coors Field trend toward abundant offense and problematic pitching. The Padres’ pitching held up its end of that bargain in Wednesday’s middle game of a three-game set, but the offense flew below the radar as the Padres fell 8-3 to the Rockies, evening the series.

Luis Campusano was a bright light on the night, hitting to all fields for the Friars as he went 3-for-4 with a solo homer to left, a pair of doubles to center and right, two runs and an RBI. Both of his homers this season have come against the Rockies -- he’s hit safely in 14 of his 17 career games against Colorado. He accounted for all of San Diego’s extra-base hits on Wednesday.

“Everything [was going well],” Campusano said. “I’m just locking in on one good pitch, just giving us a chance. It really doesn't matter what the score is at Coors Field – there’s always a chance to get in or get out. We just keep fighting until the last out.”

His seventh-inning round-tripper ended a five-game homerless drought for the Padres, but it wasn’t a streak the Padres were stressing over, if they were even aware of it.

“I don't think we're counting how many days it is without a home run,” manager Craig Stammen said. “We don't have it on the big board out there. But it is nice to see Campusano have a great game tonight. He's been swinging well throughout the year, and three great swings from him today.”

On the whole, the lineup has been in a mini-funk over the last three games. The Paders have won twice, but scored only six runs over the span, including just four runs in two games at Coors Field, where they hit 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

“It's part of the season,” Stammen said. “We’re not going to score 10 runs every game, and you just have to manage those ups and downs. Right now, I don't think our guys are seeing the ball really well. We'll get them right, and eventually they'll start clicking.”

Walker Buehler had been clicking over his previous two starts, allowing two earned runs over 11 innings. But Wednesday’s start echoed his abbreviated outing in Boston -- his only other road start this year -- when he allowed four earned runs over 2 2/3 innings.

He was shy of completing three innings again, allowing another four runs over 2 2/3 with a season-high eight hits.

“I feel actually pretty good about what I did, relative to the box score,” Buehler said. “You know your stuff's not going to act the same [at Coors Field], so you're trying to get the ball on the ground, and you give up seven hits on the ground.”

It was the kind of game the veteran has learned to quickly forget.

“I've had plenty of experience pitching here,” Buehler said. “I've had a couple of good ones, and a lot that you leave scratching your head. These games don't end up looking or acting like games at 29 other places. But this game was not a Coors Field [game, when] they're hitting the ball 35 miles an hour and getting it to the wall. They hit the ball where we weren't, and for me, dictating contact point and [stuff] like that, that's my job. I didn't do good enough, so we'll move forward.”

The Padres used four pitchers, and none of them escaped unscathed, with Kyle Hart, David Morgan and Wandy Peralta each touched for at least a run. The 15 hits allowed by Padres pitchers are the second most they’ve allowed this season, trailing only the Giants’ 16 hits against them on March 31.

“There's some stuff you try and dictate here that you don't really worry about other places,” Buehler said. “Being relaxed and trying to throw the breaking ball where you want it is super important here, and so the velocity may not be quite where it is, but you're trying to control yourself and everything you're doing. Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't.”

The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak against the Rockies as the Padres look to win their sixth consecutive series over Colorado on Thursday.

“Every game is important,” Campusano said, with an eye to bouncing back in the rubber match. “We don't give games away, or at least we don't try to. Our intent is to go out there and compete, and we'll stick to the game plan and go out there and execute and win games.”